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@nimh 13H5 @anni @fitte REMIG GROTZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent .Na 63,507, dated April 2, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIDGES.

@tige tlgtnle nicht in in il est TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, REMIG GROTZ, ofthe city of Chicago, in the county ofCook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved Mode ofConstructing Automatic Bridge-Barriers and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this Specification, inwhich Figure l, the side view of the device,

Figure 2, the bevelled gear moving the upright shaft.

Figure 3, the side view of the lip.

Figure 4, the back view of the whole arrangement; and

Figure 5, the front view of the lip.v

The object of my invention is to devise cheap, simple, and efficientmeans to automatically close or open gates or barriers at thedraw-bridges across rivers, canals, Snc., and thereby prevent accidents;and the nature, of my inventionconsists in a combination of levers andWeights with a lip of the bridge, projecting downwards along its endcurvature, and pressing 'on said levers, which in their turn act on theuprights by means of bevelled gear, turning the same one way or theother, and thereby shutting oropening the gates' fastened to the saiduprights, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A bent lever, A, with its fulcrum setting firmly on a shaft, B, has aweight, W, suspended at one end, while its other end is provided with aroller, b, supporting a slide, C, that moves up and down between twofriction-rollers CZ d, along the back side of beams N, having its endbent and projecting beyond said beams, with a roller, D, set on'its end.Av bar, E, one end of which is secured to the upper beam M by means of abracket and pin, has a notch, F, at itsl other end, which notch cancatch a pin, a, of the lever A, or loosen it. A pin, H, and a lever, K,are attached to this bar, E. The pin passingthrough timber, if pressedfrom the outside, moves the bar E, which disengages the pin a of thelever A, and moves the end of the lever K upwards. There are two bolts Lconnected by a cross-piece that pass through the timber, and may beraised or'lowered by means of a rope or chain, O, one end of which isfastened to the beam, while its other end, after passing over' the blockI?, is secured by a knot to the end of the lever K, at which end theweight W' is suspended. The result of this arrangement is that when thebridge is open the catch F catches the pin a of the lever A., and thelever K keeps tight the chain O, which in its turn keeps up the pins L Lprojecting above the iiooring of the bridge. But when the -bridgc visclosing, its pressure `on the pin H disengages the pin a, the end. ofthe lever K moves upward, the chain O being slackencd, the pins L L dropdown, to facilitate which movement a weight may be attached to theircross-piece. Meanwhile theroller D being pressed down, the lever Achanges its position and moves the shaft B. This shaft B being securedto the beams by means of hangers R It, in which itis revolving, hasJ twosectors S S, with bevel-cogs cut in them, set firmly on it, whichsectors as the shaft revolves move bevelled pinions T T, that are setfirmly on the upright shafts U U, and Irevolvethese shafts, which intheir turn revolve two other upright shafts u et', by means of pinions ev, and thus move the gates 0r barriers X X', which are secured to thesaid shafts by plates pp. There are lanterns Z Z set firmly on theshafts UU, with glass colored differently. Said lanterns by revolvingshow the lights when the bridge is-opened di'erent from those when it isclosed. i A

In order to put in motion the above-described machinery the curved endof the bridge has a curved trianguiar lip, I, whose sides may be longeror shorter, as from their length depends the quickness of the motion ofthe gates. The curvature of the end presses the pin II, and the lip ofthe bridge presses the roller D.

The advantages of my device are obvious. The gates by closing vpreventaccidents on land, and the lanterns with red or other light caution theboats in the right time that the bridge is closed.

What I claim as my'invcntion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The mechanical device, consisting of a combination of levers andweights as described, said levers being connected with and acting uponthe upright shafts to which the gates or barriers and the lanterns aresecured, the whole constructed and operating substantially as and in themanner herein described and specified.

2. The lip at the curved end of the bridge constructed and/operating asdescribed, in combination with the said mechanical device as and for thepurposes set forth. l

ItEMIGr GROTZ.

Witnesses:

J. B. TURCHIN, t JAS. R. Humm.

